e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

E-government has helped
improve planning, increased
efficiency of working
processes, enhanced a
customer focused orientation
and assisted in the application
of good governance principals
of transparency and
accountability.
For now, it seems that egovernment
has only had a
minimal impact on
organisational structure.
Co-ordination does not equal
collaboration, and both
formal and informal coordination
have been
insufficient to promote crossagency
collaboration to
provide seamless services.
Promoting internal change. Organisational change in Finland has
benefited from continuous interaction between the planning and
development of public administration reform and e-government
objectives. IT officials in Finland report that e-government has
helped to improve planning, increased efficiency of working
processes, enhanced a customer-focused orientation and assisted
inthe application of good governance principals of transparency and
accountability. In most cases, it has reinforced existing values. For
example, respondents reported that e-government has provided the
tools for the administration to better implement transparency values
already held prior to the introduction of ICT. Efficiencies arising
from e-government, for the most part, have been channelled towards
improvements in the quality and availability of electronic services
rather than being recouped as cost savings. This is consistent with
the Finnish government’s service orientation.
For now, it seems that e-government has had only a minimal impact
on organisational structure. E-Government structures and policy in
Finland reflect current governance arrangements within government.
This could lead to an under-exploitation of the full potential of egovernment
as a facilitator for the transformation of government
structures. Further cultural change in the Finnish administration, as
in most OECD countries, is required to maximise e-government
benefits. This includes the willingness to collaborate across
agencies. While the Finnish public service seems relatively open to
change, internal organisational change requires greater staff
involvement in and ownership of reform.s.
Providing leadership. As in the case of other countries which
early on began putting services online, the initial experience of
establishing e-government in Finland has shown success in
organisations with extremely innovative and motivated lower-level
managers, without necessarily the involvement of top management.
It is not clear whether this lesson can be extended to organisations
with few resources or expertise, or to the next stage of e-government
implementation which demands a broader, whole-of-government
perspective in order to deliver seamless services. Enhancing
leadership at all organisational levels is a priority for the
development of e-government in all OECD countries, and top
management leadership for e-government initiatives remains an
important way to ensure support and resources and to motivate staff.
Ensuring co-ordination. The dilemma of e-government implementtation
is to balance the need to ensure that responsibility remains at
the agency-level where most implementation takes place, with the
need for common decisions on some horizontal issues by the central
government. Co-ordination does not equal collaboration, however,
and both formal and informal co-ordination have been insufficient to
promote cross-agency collaboration to provide seamless services or
to encourage agencies to work together to find common solutions.
16